• Untitled Document

    Join us on March 29rd, 7pm EST

    for the CBEC Virtual Meeting

    All EYO members and followers are welcome to join the fun and get to know the guest speaker!

    See the link below for login credentials and join us!

    March Meeting Info

    (dismiss this notice by hitting 'X', upper right)

Bottom paint for 38-200 on fresh water lake

c.gustafson

Member II
Hello Mates. I purchased a 1987 Ericson 38-200 two years ago and it's on a trailer over the winter. I sail on a fresh water lake in Kansas. The bottom is in good shape, but I plan to put on two coats of bottom paint before launching this spring. Going forward, my present thinking is that I will leave the boat in the water year 'round for the next 2-3 years and then pull the boat out on the trailer again and do another bottom job. Is there any consensus on the best overall bottom paint to use under these circumstances? A marina owner has recommended Petit Vivid bottom paint. As always, your input is greatly appreciated.

Craig
 

Christian Williams

E381 - Los Angeles
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
The general wisdom is that locals know which formula of bottom paint works best. So theoretically at least, your marina would have opinon based on experience.
 

gabriel

Live free or die hard
My boat was moored in lake Pleasant, AZ it’s whole life and came with the paint pictured below. When I bought the boat there was zero growth on the hull and a small amount of dried slime in the keelwell where wasn’t painted. Apparently freshwater growth isn’t as aggressive as saltwater so it’s more of a decision of the type of system (ablative vs non vs hard epoxy etc)

here’s an article:


For good measure I would still ask around though, can’t hurt.

PS I believe Loren Beach is a freshwater guy, he might let you know what he’s using.
 

Attachments

  • C16BDB3D-DA07-4777-9D20-96D4A7F2ACE4.jpeg
    C16BDB3D-DA07-4777-9D20-96D4A7F2ACE4.jpeg
    118.7 KB · Views: 4
Last edited:

Frank Langer

1984 Ericson 30+, Nanaimo, BC
When we had our previous boats on fresh water lakes, VC17 was by far the preferred choice. It is easy to apply, very effective, but can't be applied over an existing ablative bottom paint.
As others have suggested, local knowledge is a good guide.
Frank
 

Loren Beach

O34 - Portland, OR
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
When we had our previous boats on fresh water lakes, VC17 was by far the preferred choice. It is easy to apply, very effective, but can't be applied over an existing ablative bottom paint.
As others have suggested, local knowledge is a good guide.
Frank
Like Frank, I used VC17 for a decade on our prior 26 footer. And also true that you would need to research to see if it would go on over whatever is already there. For the last twenty years we have relied on a "slime resistant" semi-hard paint. So check on local knowledge........
I should note that no matter what we have used in our fresh water environment, it is necessary to wipe off the surface slime with a '3M pad' a couple times a year -- job for a diver.
 

JSM

Member III
Here on southern Lake Michigan VC17 is the paint of choice. I have also used Westmarine FW21 (aka Pettit SR21) with great success. Usually the best deal is on West FW21 when they put in on sale in the spring.
 

u079721

Contributing Partner
VC-17 was all we ever used on our Ericson 38-200, kept on the Great Lakes. It wasn't as slime resistant as I might like, but since we hauled the boat each season the easy of application (no sanding!) more than make up for the need to clean off the slime.
 
Top